The much-discussed whereabouts of President Barack Obama on the night the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya was attacked Sept. 11, 2012 popped up again via Roger Ailes, Fox News chairman and CEO, and chairman of Fox Television Stations Group, notes Grumpy Editor.
In receiving a $250,000 award last week from the Bradley Foundation, Ailes’ acceptance speech included reference to the Benghazi attack that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stephens.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t even care what the president of the United States was doing that night,” Ailes said. “However, I would like to know what the commander-in-chief was doing that night” --- which yielded applause from the audience.
Meanwhile, a photo, presumably shot on Sept. 11, 2012, resurfaced last week after its first release, without much fanfare, in early January.
The caption read: “Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor, left, updates the President and Vice President on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Chief of Staff Jack Lew are at right.” All five are standing.
Strangely, Benghazi or Libya are not mentioned in the caption. The photo shows Donilon holding a red file folder. Lew and the president have hands in pockets.
However, details are given on the camera used by official White House photographer Pete Souza: a Canon EOS 5D Mark III.
See the photo here.
Obama departed Washington the following morning (Sept. 12) for a Las Vegas fundraiser.
'Chained CPI' means less COLA for seniors
The phrase “chained CPI” and what it is all about made its debut --- with little comment from most print and broadcast media --- after President Barack Obama’s budget plan was formally announced on April 10.
It deals with a proposed change in the formula for the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) that will negatively affect millions of older Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
Now, AARP’s CEO is alerting members that if enacted it “means cutting Social Security benefits by $127 billion over the next 10 years.”
In a message to members of AARP (formerly known as American Association of Retired Persons) Addison Barry Rand warns: “Can you afford to lose $14,076?,” pointing out “that’s what the cumulative cut in Social Security benefits will be for the average retiree by the time they reach 90.”
Replacing the traditional consumer price index (CPI), long used in calculating the annual COLA, by chained CPI will cut yearly benefit increases.
Social Security and SSI recipients grumbled when this year’s COLA barely rose to 1.7 percent, about half of last year’s 3.6 percent.
The chained CPI “is not fair to you, me or other Americans,” declared Rand in this month’s message.
That caution communication from AARP’s CEO is in contrast to support of ObamaCare at a November, 2009, press conference when Rand proclaimed: “AARP is proud to endorse the Affordable Health Care for America Act."
In case you missed these…
Sarah Palin, former vice presidential candidate, returns as a Fox News contributor, appearing today on the channel’s Fox and Friends…Despite a presidential visit and promises of federal assistance, West, Texas, scene of an April 17 fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15, injured hundreds and destroyed nearby properties, was denied funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA also rejected Gov. Rick Perry’s request for a major disaster declaration for the town…Al Jazeera America schedules its launch for around Aug. 24...the PBS NewsHour nightly newscast is laying off employees for the first time in nearly 20 years and closing its Denver and San Francisco offices…Helen Brush Jenkins, one of the few early female photographers on daily newspapers (at the original Los Angeles Daily News), died in Chicago at age 94.
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